Feed mechanism for printing-presses.



A. J. FORD.

FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1908.

Patented Oct. 5, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Jfmven 501".

A. J. FORD.

FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 190B.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Oct. 5, 1909.

rl u

Wz'nessea:

A. J. FORD. FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES. APPLICATION FILED MAY25,1908.

936,1Qg Patentd 0013.5, 1909.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3v KW. Z19

A itorney.

UNITED STATES Pa N OFFICE.

ALBERT JQFORI), OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 FUCHS AND LANG MANUFACTUE ING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBnnT J Form, a citizen of the United States, residingin the borough of Manhattan, city ot' New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Feed Mechanism for Printingdresses, oi which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

My invention relates to feed mechanism for printing presses, and is particularly adapted for use in feeding sheets of tin plate or other stitl' material.

The object of the invention is to produce a feed mechanism of simple construction which will present a sheet to the printing couple of a press in timed relation to the movement of the printing couple and in a rapid and reliable manner, the position of the plate as it enters the press being accurately determined by the mechanism so as to correi'zt'ly engage the plate with the grippers of the press and determine the position of the impression on the plate.

To the above ends the invention comprises a. feed mechanism provided with means for advancing the plate into contact with the printing couple at the proper time in the oppration of the press, together with means for engaging the lateral edges of the plate to adjust it laterally to predetermined position while it is being so advanced, and these means are made adjustable for plates of ditferent sizes and are preferably combined with a feed table inclined downwardly away from the printing couple so that the plate,

when placed upon the table b y the operator,-

tends to slide away from the printing couple and into engagement with the moving feeding devices.

Other features of the invention Will appear in the following description of the i1lustrated embodiment thereof.

I will now describe the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and will thereafter point out my invention in claims.

vention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the feedi'nechanism; Fig. 0 the mechanism for actuating the feeding Specification of Letters Patent.

'dinally in bearings 21 is a plan View of at the proper time to n1ove the slide n1 fingers. Figs. 4 and are a plan View and a i ward a d cause the side gage to engage the 1 0 Patented Oct. 5,

Application filed May 25, 1908. Serial No. 434,740.

for cylinder 1 and the impression cylinder 2. which constitute the printing couple. These cylinders are mounted on shafts 3 and Ti; journaled -in the frame of the press. The plates are fed upona feed table 5,. which inclines upwardly toward the printing couple. The plates are laid one by one on the feed table by an operator, and are taken from a stack on a supply table (5 situated at the rear of the feed table. The top of the supply table is slotted and is adjustably se-' cured by screws 7. \Vhen small plates are to be printed the screws 7 may be loosened and the supply table may be adjusted horizontally toward the printing couple to reduce the distance through which the plates must be carried by the operator. After the plate is laid upon the feed table and while it is being advanced into engagement with the printing couple, it is engaged laterally by two side gages 8 and 5.) which determine its position laterally. The side gage 8,;

shown particularly in Figs. 4 and 5, is in the form of a roller 8 journaled on a stud 11 depending from a head 12. 'lhehead 12 is mounted on a threaded stem l3 fixed, by means of nuts 14, to a post 15. The post has a shouldered lower end slidingly fitting a longitudinal slot to in a slide 17. The post is fixed adjustably in position in the slide by means of a block 18 and a thumb screw ll). The slide i7 is mounted to move longitulixcd below .the {cell table, and the post 15 and gage 8 project upward through a slot 22 in the table. Iteciprocating motion is imparted to the slide to move the side gage into and out of engagement with the plate on the table. For

this purpose a grooved collar 23 is mounted'gsIuo edge of the plate on the feed table. The re turn movement of the slide is caused by a spring 28, of whicn one end is fixed to a the feed table in the same manner as slide side gage 8, and thus the side 17. A spring 34:, similar to spring 28, is connected with slide '83. This arrangement is such as to cause the two slides to move simultaneously in opposite directions.

The side gage t) is in. the form of a roller journaled on a stud 35 projecting upward from a block 36. The block is shouldered to engage slidingly a slot 37 in slide 33. It

not fixed in position, but islnounted yieldingly to permit the side gage to yield when both gages are in cngagen'ientwith the opposite edges of the plate in order to accommodate the mechanism to slight variations in the width of the plates. The block 36 moves between two blocks, and 39, which are adj ustahle along the slot 37 and are fixed in position by blocks ll and thumb screws &2 beneath the slide 3%. A rod 55 is fixed atits ends in the blocks 38 and 85) and passes loosely through a hole in the slide block 36, serving to keep the latter in place on the slide. A compression spring l surround ing rod engages slide block 36 and fixed hlock 38 and tends to move the-slide block toward fixed block 35 This spring permits the side gage to yield during the last portion of the movement of the side gages toward each other after the plate has been moved into engagement with the unyielding 8 detcrmines the final lateral position of the plate and adjusted, accordingly, so that it shall come to rest exactly at the point. to which the edge of the plate is to'be brought. I

To insure the proper engagement of the edges of the plate with the side gages, curved guides (if) and il; are fixed over the gages 8 and 9 respectively. These guides hold the edges of the plate down and prevent'their springing upward out off-engagement with the side gages. To assist the operator in laying the plate upon the feed table in proper position between the side gages, two inclined guide plates 47 are fixed to the feed table, by means of screws -18 beside the slots 22 in which the side gages move. These guides may he adjusted,- accordii'ig to the adjusted position of the side gages, by placing screws 48 in any two of a series of holes -19 provided in the feed table beside the slots 22. I

The plate is fed up the feed table and into engagement with the printing couple by two 5 feeding fingers 5i, which may be mounted on any two of the four heads moving in longitudinal slots in the feed table. The heads 52 are carried by rods 5st beneath the table, and are adjnstahly fixed thereon by clamp screws 5.3. The rods are fixed in cross members 56 and 57 of a feed frame having side members 58 sliding longitudinally in slotted guides 59 fixed to the frame of the machine.

To actuate the feed frame the side memhers are provided with racks 61 which engage twosegmental gears 52 carried by a rock shaft (33 journaled in the frame of the machine. The rock shaft has :1 depending arm 64 pivotally connected with a connecting rod (35. The rod has a forked end (i slidingly mounted on a cam shaft 61' journaled in the frame of the machine. The connecting rod carries a cam roll (38 which engages a cam 69 fixed on the cam shaft 67. To rotate the cam a gear 7i, mounted on the cam shaft, is engaged by a pinion 72 meshing with a gear 73 mounted on the shaft. 4 of the impression cylinder. rotates the cam is rotated and operates, through the connections described, to move the feed frame and the feeding fingers toward the printing couple. The return mt'iven'ient is caused by a spring 74 connecting segmental gear (32 with the frame of the machine.

To adjust the feed mechanism for plates As the cylinder" of a given size the table 6 is adjusted as far toward the )rintin cou le as the size of the O b 1 plate will permit. The feeding fingers are then so adjusted on the feed frame thatjust as they reach the end of their feeding movei'uent the forward edge of the plate engages the printing couple in position to be seized by the gri ipcrs on the impression cylinder. The side gage 8lis then so adjusted on its slide that at the COIIlPlOtlOD of its in ward movement it will have moved the edge of the'plate to the required position. The side gage t) is so adjusted that at the end of the inward movement of slide 33 which actuatcs it, lb will be in engagement with the edge of the plate and will have ielded' slightly, through he action of spring The guide plates 4-7 are then so adjusted that when the side gages are in their retracted position, the guide plates will be in position to receive the plate and guide it to a position on the feed table between the side gages.

in the operation of the mechanism the operator, taking a plate from the pile on the supply table 6, drops it between the guide plates 47 and the plate thenvremains Where it falls or slides downward into engagement with the feeding fingers. At the proper time in the rotation of the printing couple the cams 27 and (if) operate simultaneously to move the feeding fingersforward and to move the side gages toward each other. The cam 69 is formed to complete the forward see, we

following claims.

I claim: 1. Feed mechanism for printing presses comprising, in combination with a printing couple, a feed table, means acting automatically to engage the rear edge of a sheet on the table and move the sheet into engagement with the printing couple, two' side gagcs, -means for moving them siznultane ously toward each other to engage the lateral edges of the sheet and more the sheet laterally to a predetermined position, rigid connections between one side gage and the actuating means, and yielding connections between the other side gage and the actuating means to permit the gage to yield to accommodate sheets of ditl'erent widths.

2. Feed mechanism for printing presses comprising, in combination with the printingcouple of a press. a feed table, means acting automatically to engage the rear edge of av sheet on the tableand move the sheet into engagement with the printing couple, two side gages, means for moving the side gages to cause them to engage the lateral edges of the sheet and move the sheet laterally to predetermined position, and adjust able connections between the side gages and the' actuating mechanism, one of said connections being rigid and the other yielding to permit the gage to yield to acconnnmlate sheets of different widths.

3. Feed mechanism for printing presses comprising, in combination with the print ing couple of a printing press, a feed table,

means acting automatically to engage the rear edge of a sheet on the table and move the sheetinto engagement With the printing couple, two side gages, means for moving the side gages simultaneously toward each other to cause them to engage the lateral edges of a sheet on the table, and two fixed guides engaging the lateral edges of the sheet to assist in placing it between the side gages.

at. Feed mechanism for printing press comprising two side gages, and. means for movingthem sinmltaneously toward each other to engage the lateral edges of sheet and move the sheet laterally to predetermined position, one side gage being moved yieldingly and the other positively toa pre determined position so as to determine the position of one edge of the sheet While yielding to accommodate sheets of different .vid'ths.

Feed. mechanism for printing presses comprising, in combination with the print ing couple of a press, feed table for receiving asheet to be printed, th passage of said sheet from the table to the printing couple being unobstructed t.1e table be ing sloped away from the print so that the sheet when laid thereon tends under the influence of gravity to move away from the printing couple, it cling means arranged to engage the t e of the sheet and arrest. such therein-e11; w: n the ft Ward edge oi the s ieet out of pUSll'lOZl to be acted upon by the print lg (ample, and means moving said feeding means in timed relation with the. operation of tin. printing couple to advance the sheet uptne feed table and into engagement with the r-rintin.g couple.

in testimony W \iheico couple 7 

